— Brinsley
"It lends itself to reggae perfectly."
— Drummie
"..."
— Tony
Reggae covers of old pop hits are rarely as simple as they seem. While you might assume that a group or artist hears the original and decides to make it sound Jamaican, these tracks tend to have lengthy histories of being given the tropical treatment. UB40's famed rendition of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" actually used a version by Tony Tribe from 1969 as its source material, with the band unaware of it previously being a much more conventional MOR pop song when they came to record it in 1983. Boy George's chart topping comeback single "Everything I Own" had first been done in timid fashion by American band Bread; the ex-Culture Club singer instead based his cover on the UK number one by Ken Boothe, which was much more in the style of reggae. Even this fortnight's singles reviewers, Aswad, had a roll in this trajectory: their big hit "Don't Turn Around" had originally been recorded by Tina Turner but the 1994 cover by Swedes Ace of Base is much more in line with the Brit-Reggae threesome.
"Wild World" was written by Cat Stevens and appeared on his hugely popular and influential Tea for the Tillerman album. Not released as a single in Britain, it got some Jamaican spices added to it when Jimmy Cliff took it to the Top 10 at the end of 1970. Not a full-on reggae number, mind you, but one that bridges that opened the door for it. It took a little while but eventually Maxi Priest arrived with a bouncy and summery take on the song, if not quite out of Kingston then certainly from the multicultural Lewisham district of London where the singer grew up.
Released on the cusp of a lovely summer (well, it certainly was in Canada where I was at the time; the Britain we arrived in that August wasn't quite as pleasant), "Wild World" wound up coming in between two controversies, one relatively minor, the other with a significance that is still remembered to this day. They didn't impact Priest's single as such but they are worth mentioning, if only to emphasise the power pop has to create demons while also encouraging us to let them go.
In the middle of 1987, the Pet Shop Boys were returning from the studio with some new material. They had had four hit singles the previous year and looked to build on their success with another batch of 45's. After some debate over whether they should release "Heart" first, they eventually settled on the grand hi-NRG spectacle of "It's a Sin". A song about being manipulated by Catholic guilt, it drew the ire of the administration of Neil Tennant's old comprehensive school in Newcastle but the song resonated with enough people to give them their second number one. Not content with all the myriad sins mentioned in the lyrics, media figure Jonathon King pointed out that it sounded an awful lot like this record from the seventies called "Wild World".
To be fair to the pariah and sex offender, he wasn't alone. Tom Hibbert had been one of Tennant colleagues at ver Hits but this didn't stop him from finding similarities as well — and this likely would have been prior King's allegations begin published. Of course, Hibbs didn't go too far. He claims it's uncannily similar "to the note" but he isn't interested in condemning the Pet Shop Boys for it. If anything, he's complimentary of them borrowing such a "very nice tune". And he doesn't use the P word. King, on the other hand, alleged that they stole it from Stevens (who said he didn't mind; the old troubadour may have had other things on his mind around this time, as we'll soon see) and, in order to make his case, he even recorded a cover of "Wild World" done with the production techniques of "It's a Sin". The single flopped and the Pet Shop Boys promptly sued King but this still didn't stop Chris Lowe from buying a copy because he liked it.
Priest could've run with the controversy but didn't. Had "Wild World" been released as the first single off third album Maxi, it would have come in closer to the Jonathon King debacle. Instead, he put out a decent cover of "Some Guys Have All the Luck", which gave him his first Top 20 hit, and followed that with the forgettable — assuming you've ever heard it — "How Can We Ease the Pain?", which flopped. By June of '88, the situation had blown over. Aswad don't even bother to mention it in their review.
Had all this come about a year later, however, it's likely that "Wild World" would never have seen a single release at all. The news in early 1989 had been dominated by the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran against Salman Rushie for the alleged blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses. Unwisely deciding not to remain silent on the matter, Yusef Islam (aka Cat Stevens' name since becoming a Muslim) wound up in the middle of the situation. He now claims he wasn't prepared for the media firestorm that would erupt but that seems strangely naive of a one-time globally popular singer-songwriter. He made inflammatory statements that he soon tried to explain away as jokes and when he speaks on the matter today he tries to be more rational but always manages to slide in a reference to the offence Rushdie "caused".
The Rushdie Affair, as it has come to be known, understandably didn't have a huge impact on music, Yusuf still being a long way off from reviving his recording career. In protest, however, 10,000 Maniacs had their cover of "Peace Train" deleted from subsequent pressings of their album In My Tribe. Stevens' old music did get taken off of radio stations for a time as well. But Priest never disavowed his cover of "Wild World" and I hope he remains proud of it to this day.
It probably helps that it bears little resemblance to the original. With Jimmy Cliff's version dipping its toe in reggae, Priest's is unabashed sunshine reggae-pop. There's nothing tricky about it and sounds just as you would imagine. More importantly, the hidden misogyny of the Stevens recording is missing here. There's a despicable passive-aggressiveness at the heart of this song, like a pathetic teenage boy threatening the girl that has broken his heart that she will "regret it". If you want to leave, the song's narrative goes, there's the door but there's a lot more to life than pretty dresses and cute smiles and you're going to learn some painful lessons without me. Yes, it's something guys say (I'm ashamed to say that I've said some stuff along those lines, if much more crudely put) and perhaps Stevens was right to put these emotions into song but it doesn't make him look especially good. It wasn't a black eye the way the Rushdie affair had been but it should have dulled notions that he was a sensitive soul.
Priest, by contrast, sings it with a lot more joy in his voice. He doesn't sound heartbroken in the least. He may have misread its meaning but that probably works in his favour. (Not to be confused with whoever transcribed the lyrics for Smash Hits; though I could be wrong, I don't think it's "but just remember there's a lot of bad air beware" but "...a lot of bad everywhere") He doesn't sound like his woman has mistreated him, nor does he sound like he's wishing grave misfortune to her either. It sounds like he's singing a song to the best of his abilities. Sometimes simple is best.
Finally, a small thing about the video. I imagine a lot of people watching it now will laugh at the cut up graphics but this has always been one of my favourite promos. A throwback to a time when videos could capture young people as readily as the songs themselves. "Wild World" is still a great single either way but its video gives it that little something extra.
~~~~~
Also of some cop
Morrissey: "Everyday Is Like Sunday"
"It doesn't sit on my street," admits a mostly-silent Tony from Aswad. That's generally how I feel about the bulk of Moz's solo work but "Everyday Is Like Sunday" sits perfectly well on any street, drive, road, boulevard or muse that I happen to be on. They suggest he speaks to disaffected youth (especially young people who can't sing, the trio reckon; of all the things wrong with Morrissey, his vocals are not one of them) and that's true but little would they know how loyal many of these youngsters would remain well into middle age and beyond. Like "Wild World", it's helped along by a good video that manages to make seaside towns look miserable while nevertheless making me want to visit one soon. A great song about monotony that transcends those dreary Sunday afternoons when there's nothing to do. Oh, you were once so great, Morrissey.
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